Resham helps deserted child

Lollywood diva Resham has taken on the responsibility for an abandoned eight-year-old child called Sana.

Lollywood diva Resham has taken on the responsibility for an eight-year-old child called Sana who was left near a hotel owned by the actor’s sister.

Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, Resham said, “I will be taking care of all the expenses related to her living and education. If her parents have left her due to financial difficulties, I’m ready to take on this responsibility. And if they are looking for her [in case she was lost], they can contact my sister’s hotel to take her back.”

Resham told reporters, “The child was found in front of my sister’s hotel. She is eight-years-old and says that her parents’ names are Ashraf and Sughra. She says her father is a tailor and she has three sisters and a brother. But she doesn’t know her home address.

Her father brought her here; asked her to wait for some time, and never returned. My elder sister brought her in when she saw her weeping.”

The actor has taken a note of immediate legal considerations. “We have made the announcement through mosques in the locality and have also reported the police.  But none of her parents or acquaintances could be contacted,” she said.

Though Resham does not plan to keep the little girl with her, she is ready to sponsor all expenditure for her, “I’m handing her over to the Child Protection Bureau but I will bear all the expenses. But if her parents can hear me, my appeal is to take her back since the child is very sad and scared. She is missing her family.”

“If financial problems are the only issue, which is why they left her at the hotel, I promise to bear all the expenditures till the day she is married.

I want her to be with her family. I can relate to her feelings since my parents passed away when I was very young. It was my elder sister who raised me after them.”

Unlike Hollywood where many celebrities like Meg Ryan, Angelina Jolie and Madonna have adopted orphans from various parts of the world, child adoption is a rare practice for Pakistani celebrities.

Adnan Sami Khan

Singer and musician Adnan Sami Khan, who was recently touring Pakistan with his wife Roya Faryabi, adopted an orphan from Rawalpindi Sweet Home. The child, Abu Bakar, hails from Mardan.

Faryal Gohar

Actor Faryal Gohar also took responsibility of another child from Mardan this year while attending the event where Khan announced his decision to adopt the child.

Hadiqa Kiani

Pop singer Hadiqa Kiani also adopted a child from Edhi Home in 2005 after an earthquake struck the northern areas. It was on a visit to the orphanage to distribute gifts that she adopted an infant born a few days before the disaster. “I need a child and the child (needs) a mother,” she said when she adopted the chid.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 3^rd, 2010.